Nicholas Hoult reveals why he dropped out of Mission Impossible
Nicholas Hoult was all primed to play a villain in the upcoming Mission Impossible movie. Then he had to walk away.
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British actor Nicholas Hoult had to walk away from what could’ve been one of the biggest roles of his career, as a villain in Tom Cruise’s Mission Impossible sequels.
Hoult revealed he was cast in Mission Impossible 7 after a personal phone call from Cruise. But a scheduling conflict with his series The Great prevented him from taking the role.
It was the third high-profile gig he missed out on a row, he told The Guardian in an interview to promote his latest film, Renfield.
“I screen-tested for Batman and didn’t get it,” he said. “I screen-tested for Top Gun, didn’t get it. Then I got a call from Tom Cruise, ‘Hey, how about Mission Impossible?’ OK, got it.
“Then I had to drop out because I was already attached to do some more of The Great.”
Hoult and Mission Impossible 7 director Christopher McQuarrie had even teased his casting on Instagram. After he dropped out, he was replaced by Esai Morales. Mission Impossible: Dead Reckoning Part 1 will be in cinemas in July.
Hoult famously was the runner-up to Robert Pattinson in the battle to don Batman’s iconic cowl. He and Pattinson were the final two contenders with both screen-testing for the role. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Hoult had even pre-negotiated his contract should he have prevailed.
Pattinson was ultimately cast as Bruce Wayne/Batman in the Matt Reeves film and will reprise the role in the sequel.
As for Top Gun: Maverick, Hoult didn’t say which role he had been going for. Among the cast of younger generation actors in the blockbuster film were Miles Teller and Glen Powell.
Hoult got his break as a child actor, most notably opposite Hugh Grant in About a Boy. He followed that up with Richard E. Grant’s semi-autobiographical movie Wah-Wah and the British series Skins.
He successfully transitioned into adult roles and has appeared in a range of critical hits including Tom Ford’s A Single Man, Mad Max: Fury Road, Warm Bodies and The Favourite.
Hoult joined the X-Men franchise in X-Men: First Class as Hank McCoy/Beast and appeared in four films and a cameo in Deadpool 2.
Hoult has portrayed a range of mercurial villains including recently in Australian filmmaker Justin Kurzel’s True History of the Kelly Gang and in Angelina Jolie action thriller Those Who Wish Me Dead.
In his latest release, Renfield, Hoult plays Dracula’s bug-eating minion in the violent comedy slasher movie, opposite Nicolas Cage who plays Vlad the Impaler.
The third season of The Great, in which Hoult plays the manchild Russian emperor Peter, premieres on May 13.
Originally published as Nicholas Hoult reveals why he dropped out of Mission Impossible
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